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c-L RISEL SEWING MACHINE. No. 257,940. Patented May 16, 1-882.

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G. GRISEL SEWING MACHINE.

No. 257,940. Patented May 16, 18:82.

N PETERS, Pmvumn im. Washingtun. n. c.

" i "SrAmE's i PATENT FFIcE..--

" GEORGE enIsnL, on sAn FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SEWING-MACHINE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 257,940,dated May 16, 1882. i 7 Asta a; filed September ef1ss1. tNomodcl.)

To ad l tv hom it may concern B it.known that I, GEORGE GRISE L, of thecityend county of San Francisco, inthc State of Oalifornia,"--have madeand invented certain *new and useful Improvements in SewingMachines forSewin g together Stalks of Tule;Grass and other like Plants; and I dohereby declare that the following i is a full, clear, and exactdescription of my said invention, reference beingthad to the accompanyin g drawings.

My'invention relates to a sewing-machine.

foruuiting together in parallel row by lines of stitches a number ofstalks of tule or other similar plantsin the manufacture of matting,

carpetlining, and like productions.

The obj ect of my invention is to dispense with hand-feeding in suchmachine, by which I both greatly increase the working capacity ofthema-chine and improve the quality of its work. i a a .My improvements,as hereinafter moreparticularlydescribed, consist, first, in thecombination, with a pairofgroored or, fluted feedrollers rotatinguniformly together and toward eachother with an intermittent movement,of a feeding device consisting of a vihrating or oscillating fingerhaving a movement alternately toward and away from the feed-rollers atone side thereof, by which the stalks are i moved or carried forward andpresented one at a timein a position to be caught by the rollers and bythem carried beneath the needle and held to receive the action of thesewing mechanism. U

It consists, also, in a sewing-machine having agang of needles, eachprovided with a stitchforming and thread-controlling mechanism, andoperating to sew parallel rows of stitching at required distances apart,and a pair of feeding-rollers and an automatic feeding-finger appliedand arranged at each needle for moving orfeeding forward a length ofstalk in a regular manner to be caught and penetrated simultaneously'byall the needles of the gang.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation ofmy improved machine, showing the connection and combination of theneedle-operating mechanism and the automatic feed device. Fig. 2 is aside elevation, in detail, of the feed device and the mechanism by whichI produce the movement of the feed-rollers and the vibrating finger.Fig. 3 is a side view,in detail, ofthe feed-rollers and the vibratingl'ced-finger.. Upon opposite sides of a work-supporting table orsurface, A, I,fixtwo goose-necks or standards, B B, to support andafford bear- 1 ings for theupper works above the table,

which consist of the principal driving-shaft G,

the needle-operating shafts D']) the rockshaft E, that actuates thefeeding-fingers, ant

the shaft F, that gives motion to, the feed rollers. i i Below the tableis a secondary shaft, G, that carries and operates the lower oneof eachset of feed-rollers. This shaft is held in brackets g g and the gears ff.

Beneath the table also will be situated the mechanism that controls theunder threads driven from the shaft F by means of and operates, inconjunction withthe needles, I to form stitches; but as this part of thesewing mechanism forms of itself no part of my present invention and canbe readily supplied and connected with the other partsandoperativemechanism by any person skilled in the construction of sewing machinery,I shallnot describe it more particularly.

The needle-arm in this machine consists of a horizontal bar, H, havingneedlecla-mps h h,

at distances apart according to the number of needles required for thework, to carry and work the needles i i. To give this needle-car- 'ryingbar the required reciprocations I secure it to the ends of the verticalslides J J, that are held in bearings jj, and have a reciprocatingmotion derived from the shafts D at each side of the machine. with auniform motion from the principal These two shafts are driven 2 go shaftby means of the gears k, and. toobtain j Y the proper movement oftheslides I make use f of the ordinary heart-cam and roller, or any;othersuitable mechanism. The gang of needles is thus operated to piercethe stalk at several points in its length at or near each end and midway at one, two, or more points, as required by the length of the stalkor the character of the work being turned out, and to carry through theupper threads for simultaneous formation of stitches at each needle. V 4The stalks m, to be united by lines ofstitches,

are presented one at a time to the needles by the action of the feedingand clamping rollers L L, which are placed at each needle in pairs, onebelow the table A, but projecting and workingthrough a slot at one sideof the needleaperture, and the other one of the pair situated above andin position perpendicularly over and in the same plane with the firstone. The rollers of each pair are geared together to runwith an uniformmovement toward each other, and their faces have an equal number ofconcave grooves, m m, extending around the whole circumference andforming a series of longitudinal channels semicircular, or nearly so, incross-section. As these rollers have the same number of grooves and aremoved uniformly together, they act to seize the stalk as it is presentedandembrace it above and below, as they vings.

rotate a sufficient distance to bring the contiguous grooves of theroller in line perpendicularly. The axes of these rollers are placedsubstantially in aplane with the line of movement of the needle, so thatwhen any two grooves m of the pair come opposite each other the path ofthe needle shall run diametrically through the circle inclosed betweenthe concaves or grooves in the faces of the rollers, and when a stalk isheld in this space and embraced by the grooves, as shown in Fig.

3 of the drawings, the needle shall pass substantially through thethickest part of the stalk. At each descent ofthe needles these rollershave no movement of rotation, but are held stationary until the needleshave descended and passed upward again out of thestalk, and at such timethey act as clamps to hold and present the stalk for the operation ofthe sewing mechanism. The required rotation and these intervals of restare produced by themechanism shown in Figs. 2 and.3,' and seen also inthe general view, Fig. 1 of the draw The roller L below the table turnson a stud, 1), held in the bracket g, and it has a pinion, N, whichmeshes with a gear, P, fixed on the lower shaft. The upper roller, L, isearried in the same manner by a stud, q, in a bracket, 1*, and is drivenby means of the pinion N and the gear P on the upper shaft.

.' These two shafts are geared 'togetherto move the pairs of rollers andthe entire series'un-iformly together.

To give the intermittent rotation I employ the ratchet-wheel Q on theend'of the upper shaft, I and a rocking lever, R, that carries a pawl,8, and is worked by means of the revolving'cam T, carried by theprincipal shaft,

the movements of the lever being caused to thus presented and held inposition for the stitching. mechanism of each reciprocation of theneedle.

To feed the stalks automatically into the feed-rollers, 1 provide adevice which operates to seize or engage with the stalks one at atimeand move them forward into position to be caught by the grooved rollers.This device consists of a feeding-finger, W, on the end of a vibratingor oscillating arm, Y, and havinga movement alternately toward and awayfrom the front of the rollers. This movement is effected by means of theeccentric 20 upon the principal shaft, the rod :20, the rock-shaft, andthe projecting arm y, to which the end of the rod :0 is connected, thevibrating armsYbe'rng fixed to this rock-shaft, so that. the wholesetot' fingers are moved simultai'ieously by the one eccentric.

As before stated, I employ in my machine a set of feed-rollers at eachneedle of the gang. I therefore operate one of these feeding-fingers infront of each needle for the purpose of carrying the length of stalkregularly forward and brin-gi-ng it into position to be properlygraspedby each set of rollers.' This insures penetration of all "theneedles of the gangi'nto the center or thickest part of the stalk.

Just at one side-of the path of the finger W I place in front of therollers L L a curvedguid'e-wire, z. These wires are fixed abovethe-table A, with asufficient inclination toward the rollers to give thestalks, when laid on the upper end, astart or impetus downward towardthe rollers L L. The lower portion of these guide-wires is carriedforward in a curve approaching or coinciding-with the path described by'theend of the feed-finger, and the stalk is held by them directly inthe path of the feeding-fin ger. Their position is such that in itsbackward movement each feed-finger slips over and past the stalk, and isbrought on the return movement behind the stalk and in a position tocarry it into the space between the two rollers. Over th-iswire z, Iplace an uppergui'de-wire, z, and between these two wires thestalkisperfectl y guided and directed into placeandintolinewiththeconcavegrooves in the feed-rollers.

The yielding movement of the finger to allow it to passby the stalk andget into position behind it is provided for and effected by l theconstruction shown in Figs. 1 and 3, where the'feed-finge'r W is pivotedin the forked ex tremity of the arm Y, and a light spring, a,

h'avingone end fixed to the pivot w and the otherend to the bar W,serves to hold the tinger-bar in line with the arm Y, and yetallows itto turn and-yield in passing over the stalk onthe backward movement. Bymeans ofthe set-screw V, working in the upper end of the finger-bar andbearing against the top of the arm Y above the pivot, I can set thelowerend of the finger Wmore or less forward and adjust it with respect tothe movement of its operating-arm Y so that it will be brought upagainst the front of the feed-rollers sooner or later in its forwardmovement, to compensate for lost motion or wear of parts or the size ofthe stalks. This will be readily understood by referring to Fig. 3 ofthe drawings.

The operation togetherof these parts and mechanisms will be as follows:The stalks to be sewed or united laterally together are introduced oneat a time by an attendant, who places a stalk upon the upper end of theinclined guides, where it slides down upon the curved portion of thewires in front of the feedrollers. As the feeding-fingers move backwardtheir ends then slip over and get into position behind the stalk, andupon the return movement the fingers carry the stalk forward and intothe feed-rollers. As this movement of the feeding-fingers is completedthe feed-rollers rotate and the opposing concave grooves in the faces ofevery two rollers close together around the stalk, and by theirrevolution together carry it forward under the needles. Upon reachingthis position the rollers stop and hold the stalk at rest-while theneedles perform their office of penetrating and carrying their threadsthrough the stalk for en gagin g with the stitch-formin g mechanismbeneath; but as the needles descend the fingers move back to takeanother stalk, and during the upward movement of the needles the fingersbegin to feed forward, so that by the time the points of the needles areclear of the stalk being sewed the succeeding stalk will be in positionto be caught between the feed-rollers. Each rotating movement of thefeedrollers therefore takes a stalk in at one side as the precedingsewed stalk is discharged at the other side upon the table behind therollers. The feeding thus takes place automatically, and the stalks areintroduced and held to the needles uniformly and in regular rows. Thereare no special care and attention required on the part of the attendantin placing the stalks, as the fingers perform all the work of bringingeach stalk into parallel position to be caught simultaneously by allthe feed-rollers.

Having thus fully described my invention, what Iclaim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for sewing together stalks of tule-grass and other likeplants, the combination, with a reciprocating needle, of a pair ofgrooved feedingand clam pin g rollers, arranged relatively to the needlesubstantially as described, and having an intermittent rotation, for thepurpose set forth.

2. In a machine for sewing together stalks of tale-grass and other likeplants, the combination,with the reciprocating needle-bar carrying agang of needles, of the sets of grooved feeding-rollers L L, having anintermittent rotation and a simultaneous movement together, by which alength of stalk is brought regularly forward-in line with and beneaththe needles of the gang for simultaneous penetration, substantially ashereinbefore described.

3. In a machine for sewing together stalks of tulc and other likeplants, the combination, with a set of grooved feeding-rollers, L L,having an intermittent rotation, of a vibrating or oscillatingfeeding-finger applied to operate substantially as described, for thepur pose set forth.

.4. In combination with the vibrating or oscillating arm Y, the yieldingfinger W, having a turning movement in the backward motion of its arm,but a. rigid position at the forward motion, substantially as described,for the purpose set forth. tr

5. The feeding-finger W, pivoted on the end ofits operating-arm Y, andhaving a spring to hold and to return it to its working position withrespect to the arm, and an adjustable stop, substantially as described,for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with the intermittentlyrotating feeding-rollers andthe vibrating feeding-fingers, of the inclined guides z, substantiallyas described, for the purpose set forth.

7. In a machine for sewing together stalks of tale and other likeplants, the combination, with the work-supporting table or surface, ofthe grooved feed-rollers L L upon the shaft I held in bearings above thesaid table, the similarly-grooved rollers L L upon the shaft Gr, beneaththe table, the gears connecting the said shafts together, and themechanism for giving said shafts intermittent rotation simultaneouslytoward each other, consisting of the ratchet-wheel, the pawl, and itsoperating-lever, and the cam on the shaft, substantially as described,for the purposes set forth.

8. The herein-described machine for sewing together in parallel rowsstalks of tule-grass, consisting of the work-supporting table or surface, the standards at each end, the motorshaft, the shafts operatedwith anintermittent rotation for actnatin g the sets of feed-rollers,the grooved feed-rollers arranged in pairs upon said shafts, therock-shaft carrying and operating the vibrating feeding-fingers, and theneedle-operating shafts and the horizontal neetile-carrying bar,combined to operate in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

Witness my hand and seal.

GEORGE GRISEL.

Witnesses:

EDWARD OSBORN, W. F. CLARK.

